ONCE AGAIN
by flying duck
Summary: (rating for future)when a new war is threatening to break out will Mulan choose to stay with her family, go off and fight, or will her decision be forced upon her?
1. Rumors

1.1 CHAPTER 1: Rumors  
  
"Little Brother!" Mulan cried, ruffling the fur between his long ears as he pranced on the ground at her feet. "Good doggy! Help me with my chores today?" Grinning she tied the chicken feed to his collar and a stick with a bone attached to it above his head. In moments he was crashing around the room, colliding with doorways, chasseing after the bone always just slightly out of reach.  
  
Laughing Mulan opened the door for him so that Little Brother could chase the bone around the yard, feeding the chickens in her place. It felt so good to be home and back in the rhythm of her old life, (well, for the most part,) chores and everything. To her surprise many people had insisted 'the great heroine of China' deserved a better life style, but that wasn't what SHE wanted. Playing hooky from her chores was more fun when she was actually expected to do them! Besides her family needed her to do these things and she had to find some way to keep busy.  
  
It had been a full three months since Mulan had returned home and she was still relishing every minute of it. She made sure to keep in touch with many of her old, and new, friends, even if it was only periodically. To her surprise Mulan had found herself drawn to keep practicing her skills and keeping strong and fit so it had become scheduled into her everyday life. The Emperor had issued a statement that if she ever wanted a job on his board the offer still stood. That idea was always nestled comfortingly in the back of her mind with other warm thoughts and images, the part of her mind that she was actually least likely to speak.  
  
"Keeping busy, I see." Grandma Fa had seemingly come out of nowhere.  
  
"Grandma!" Mulan gasped, jumping at her sudden appearance. "I – uh – good morning."  
  
"And to you, if I don't give you a hear attack." Grandma snickered, "dreaming of your Captain again?"  
  
"What?!" Mulan exclaimed. "Hardly."  
  
"Uh-huh," she nodded, raising a sarcastic eyebrow.  
  
Mulan rolled her eyes. "I haven't even seen him since the weekend when he stayed for dinner, Grandma."  
  
"But you two have written?" she pressed.  
  
"Of course, he IS my friend you know," Mulan replied.  
  
"That's good enough for me." Grandma winked suggestively.  
  
"Grandma," Mulan decided to change the uncomfortable subject. "What are these rumors that I keep hearing in the streets? Threats of war..?"  
  
"I've heard exactly what you've heard, Mulan. IF they are true what will you do? when they start to gather troops to be trained. These are the things you should be considering at the moment… And, of course, if you DO go you will get to see the great Captain Shang again! But have you come to any decision yet?" Grandma asked, the teasing in her voice practically gone and the gleam in her eyes dead serious.  
  
"Honestly?" Mulan sighed leaning heavily against the doorframe, "I haven't got a clue."  
  
"You'll get one," Grandma replied confidently. "And Mulan?"  
  
"Yes Grandma?"  
  
"When I said 'sign me up for the next war'… Do you think they'd let me in?" She asked. "You know, find myself a cute boy and all that."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Mulan!"  
  
She froze, spinning around mid round-kick searching for the owner of the vaguely familiar voice.  
  
"How's my baby been, huh?"  
  
"Mushu?" Mulan squinted into the quickly falling dusk. "Is that you?"  
  
A slightly larger red lizard than she remembered straightened up on the rock where it was perched. "Did ya miss me?"  
  
Had he been big enough Mulan would have wrapped him in a fight hug, but since he wasn't she settled for a peck on the top of his head.  
  
"'Ey! None 'a that mushy stuff missy!" He exclaimed, drawing back. "But I missed you too."  
  
Mulan smiled down at him, "you actually convinced my ancestors to let you come out and visit?"  
  
"Well," Mushu eyed his feet sheepishly. "Not EXACTLY."  
  
"Mushu! You snuck out?" Mulan demanded, only slightly cross.  
  
"Not EXACTLY."  
  
"Oh," Mulan looked a little startled at this. "Really? Then what?"  
  
"See, you know all 'a the rumors that have been circulating?" Mushu asked slowly.  
  
"Yes," Mulan replied hesitantly. "They're…true?"  
  
"Well, lets just say they're not false."  
  
Mulan groaned, "You're joking." 


	2. Company?

CHAPTER 2: Company?  
  
"What gives?!" Mushu exclaimed, smashing into the back of Mulan's heels.  
  
Mulan leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Somebody's here." The pair of them eyed the two white horses tethered to the stand beside the trough, next to Kahn.  
  
"Official," Mushu murmured, scuttling up to her shoulder as she straightened. "Do you think Shang's with them? You think they want you back at war early, you know, as an officer? You think that maybe they're making an order that you aren't allowed to return?" Mushu continued to recite every frightful possibility that had run through Mulan's mind a million times since she had heard the rumors of the war until finally she reached up, impatient, and forced his jaws closed.  
  
"Shutup Mushu, somebody's going to hear you," Mulan ordered. "As if that's ever stopped you before."  
  
"Hey!" Mushu snapped, muffled, fighting his mouth free. None 'a that! I can keep my mouth closed if I want to; it just so happens that I DON'T want to, so there. Anyway, are we gonna go in? Think I should hide?"  
  
"Mushu?" Mulan suddenly spun around, catching the little lizard off-guard.  
  
"Uh," Mushu forced a big cheesy, innocent smile up at her that seemed to read exactly: 'you ain't gonna go for my mouth again are ya?' "Yeeees?"  
  
"Shh!" She held one finger up to her lips, worriedly glancing at her door every few seconds. "They really ARE going to hear you and think I'm crazy…well crazier than they already think I am, and whatever it is and whoever it may be that is STILL embarrassing!"  
  
"Oooh, I get the picture!" Mushu nodded. "I'll be around if you need me."  
  
"Thank you," she smiled down at him. "I appreciate it."  
  
Raising a final cocky eyebrow at her he grinned back, "you should!" With that he disappeared without a trace into the cloth at Mulan's neck.  
  
Grandma Fa came rushing out of the doorway as if she had been waiting for the conversation to end. "Mulan! I knew I heard you out here! They're all waiting for you inside!"  
  
"Who is?" Mulan asked.  
  
"Eh, you're family, soldiers, people, you know, the usual," Grandma grinned up at her amusing granddaughter. "Just get in there!"  
  
Mulan smiled slightly and began to rush towards the door.  
  
"And Mulan?" Grandma called back her attention momentarily back.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You still have that lucky cricket?" she winked.  
  
Without responding except for an amused smile and a quick nod Mulan spun around and continued to rush for the door. As a matter of fact, quirky…or whatever Mushu called him, was still around somewhere. Funny where friends were able to pop up when you needed them, though Crikee…'oh THAT'S what his name is!'…had gotten her into just about as much trouble as Mushu had. JUST ABOUT.  
  
"Mulan!" Her father exclaimed the moment her figure could be seen in the doorway. The two men who she hadn't quite recognized yet bowed, one somewhat reluctantly. "We have been waiting."  
  
"I'm sorry," she replied, trying not to be curt. "I didn't know that we were expecting company." She turned a quick smile to the two men, rising from their bows. Flinching the smile erased itself from her face, piece by gradual piece. She knew that one of them had seemed familiar, but what in the world was Chi Fu doing in her home? Was nowhere safe? Somehow, she doubted it. With him was a tall man with a broad chest that supported the emblem of the Emperors personal guards and he seemed QUITE proud of it.  
  
'This,' she thought gloomily, meeting the gaze of the ever curious Mushu, peeking just slightly out of her collar, 'is going to be a long night!' 


	3. Here are your choices, I know what you s...

3 Here's your choices, *I* know what you should do  
  
Chi Fu practically refused to look at Mulan all through the meeting except to occasionally sneer, or, more often, glower. The soldier with the emblem of the Emperor's guards name was Yin Po; apparently he was Chin Po's older brother, small world. It was bizarre, he seemed both interested and curious about China's heroine and his brothers friend as well as condescending, older, wiser and, of course, a man. However, to Mulan's eyes, he didn't seem as much like Chi Fu as she had originally feared, a little persuasion, which Chi Fu would undoubtedly call manipulation, and a chance to get to know the hero he was so curious about might just sway him from the path of snobbery.  
  
"A WHAT?" Mulan practically yelled. "You're joking!"  
  
"Mulan!" Her mother hissed, bringing a blush to Mulan's already rosy cheeks.  
  
"This is a great honor, Mulan," her father added in his usual calm voice.  
  
"Even more so since he has given you the opportunity to CHOOSE to stay with your family, where it is safe." Chi Fu looked down his nose at her; making it apparent just what he thought she should choose.  
  
"What do you mean by THAT?" Mulan snapped before she could stop herself.  
  
"Well," Chi Fu half sneered half giggled nervously, "honestly, the first time was most likely more fluke than heroism, you would not want to put yourself or your family through that again."  
  
"Oh, and I suppose if I DON'T go then my father would have to go in my place?" Mulan demanded.  
  
"That is still…questionable," Chi Fu replied slowly.  
  
"And I SUPPOSE the Emperor just requested that I take this job for the hell of it?!"  
  
"Mulan!" Her mother snapped, more loudly this time.  
  
Mulan glanced apologetically at her mother, but in the same look caught her father's eye. On the outside, for show, it was slightly disapproving, but on the inside she could see the amusement. HIS daughter had this man practically cowering in a corner! Not proper, but Mulan had to be herself, he knew that now, he was just sorry it took a huge act to prove it. Besides, he did not much care for the annoying and crude Chi Fu; he gained new respect for his daughter at the mere idea of her surviving boot camp with him around. Her grandmother also caught her eye, with a mischievous grin that could have reached her ears if that were allowed. Whether it was the people Mulan knew that preferred her to Chi Fu or the simple fact that she could, relatively easily, take him, didn't matter.  
  
"You DARE to have the impudence to speak to someone of MY stature in that TONE?!" Chi Fu growled, taking any miniscule support he could dig out of Fa Li's quick warning to Muan. "Even if you take the offered job of Captain then I am STILL your superior!"  
  
"Then I wonder if that job the Emperor offered me is still available… What job was that again? Oh right, silly me, YOUR job!" Mulan nearly spat. Catching her bad mood and behavior at the last second and looking down to glare, seething, at the floor.  
  
Yin Po looked at Mulan in surprise. All dinner she had been well manner, or at least better mannered than was expected of her, but not silent, that just wasn't who she was. Chi Fu had an unintelligent habit of hitting anybody's nerves that was 'not of his status' but this girl was the first person he had seen actually completely loose her temper with him. Not exactly a traditional response, but hey, anybody who got up the nerve to finally get fed up with the little man and say so was worth looking into, even if it WAS a girl. 


	4. At Least He's No Chi Fu

4. At lest he's no Chi Fu  
  
Finally catching up with Mulan, who was preparing what little things she would need, Yin tapped her shoulder, saying cautiously, "Can I help you?"  
  
"Actually I'm almost done," Mulan replied, turning around to smile at him. "But thanks anyway."  
  
He nodded, disappointed, turning to return to Chi Fu.  
  
"Yin Po," Mulan stopped him. "I've got to ask you something."  
  
"Just call me Yin," he replied, turning around to face her again. "It makes it harder to mistake me for my brother."  
  
She nodded, "I can do that, you don't exactly have the same build anyway. But look, what's actually happening? I mean, great there's something wrong and we're gathering our troops to prepare for it, *yay*," she rolled her eyes sarcastically, "but that doesn't really SAY anything."  
  
Yin looked at her sideways. Surprisingly, it wasn't an inappropriate question, stupid or in anyway stereotypically 'womanly'. He shook his head, "right now all that most people know is what's in the rumors that are going around. I know for a fact that Chi Fu is being kept in the dark and doesn't want anybody to know it." He caught himself grinning as an amused grin began to creep up to his eyes.  
  
Mulan chuckled, "it must be driving him CRAZY!"  
  
Yin grinned, "I'll bet."  
  
After a pause Mulan raised an eyebrow at him, "So, do YOU know?"  
  
Yin puffed up his chest proudly, "more than Chi Fu does anyway, which only makes him even more mad because you know," Yin shifted his note to a higher voice and made a face like Chi Fu's, "he is my 'superior'!"  
  
Mulan laughed outright. "You're not half as stuck up as I was worried you were going to be."  
  
"Well, you aren't half as girly as I thought you would be," Yin consented.  
  
Mulan rolled her eyes, "I don't think 'girly' is the word you're looking for, Yin."  
  
Yin raised an eyebrow at her, cocking his head sideways, "maybe it is maybe it isn't."  
  
"Ha! So what is it you would call me then? A fluke?" Mulan demanded, spinning around.  
  
Yin grinned at her, looking just like Yao, Ling or Chin Po when they finally got to her.  
  
Mulan shook her head, beaten and at a loss of comebacks. "I hope you end up with another 'fluke', Yin, THEN maybe you'll see!" Muttering to herself she added, "well at least he's no Chi Fu." 


	5. Stow awaybut then again what did you exp...

5.  
  
Mulan had somehow made it through the tearful goodbyes with her family. She couldn't help but think that if she had had to go through those goodbyes the first time she probably never would have gone, or at least not have made it very far if she had.  
  
Atop Kahn she had left through the large, wooden gates with a final wave. She was escorted by a very annoyed, muttering Chi Fu and a silent Yin Po. Yin looked torn between the two opposing forces that were only separated from a violent collision by a very thin line, which, at the moment, happened to be him and his horse. Conversation was not an option.  
  
  
  
Chi Fu decided to make a rest stop around halfway there despite the fact that, or maybe especially because of it, the rest of the party was just fine. Doubtlessly he would also end up taking much longer than necessary in the hopes of inconveniencing them, or maybe just to be annoying.  
  
Mulan had finally made up her mind that this would be as good a time as any to attempt conversation with Yin when she felt one of her saddlebags stir. Hesitantly Mulan turned Kahn so that the saddlebag she was reaching into couldn't be seen by Yin. In actual fact she really needn't have bothered, Yin was deep within his own thoughts and currently oblivious to her and everything else.  
  
"Mushu!" She exclaimed. Checking herself she quickly lowered her voice to a whisper, "What are you doing here?!"  
  
"Oh please! Where did you think I would be? Back home on the mantle lookin' pretty? I know I do it well but you need someone out here lookin' out for you, missy!"  
  
Mulan rolled her eyes. "Well you've certainly grown more modest since I saw you last. You know I should have expected this."  
  
"Hmm, you're right, you should have," Mushu agreed distractedly, mouth full of something or other. "PAH!" Whatever it had been was expelled. "What was THAT?!"  
  
"Well," Mulan said condescendingly, "that should teach you to go through other people's things. ESPECIALLY if you're going to eat those things!"  
  
"It's dark in there," Mushu defended, "I couldn't see what I was grabbing." Perching himself cross-legged atop the saddle bag, just out of view, he reached back in and withdrew something. Examining it briefly he tossed it to Mulan. "What is this?"  
  
Looking down at the small object the chunk missing, which looked distinctly like a bite mark, did not go unnoticed. Laughing she shook her head. "Mmm," she said sarcastically, "Soap. I gotta tell you Mushu this falls under one of my personal favorites."  
  
"Eeeww!" Mushu exclaimed, hiccupping only to produce a few soapy bubbles. "You're a sick girl, Mulan."  
  
Giggling she gave him an 'I-told-you so' look as she popped one of his bubbles.  
  
"What are you laughing at?" Yin asked, suddenly returning to his senses and realizing that Mulan wasn't just waiting patiently.  
  
"My dragon ate my soap," she replied without thinking, catching herself only too late.  
  
"You're WHAT?"  
  
"I. . ." Mulan looked around, trying to think fast. "I-I have a pet lizard."  
  
"LIZARD?!" Mushu cried, jumping to his feet.  
  
Mulan clamped a hand firmly over his mouth, muffling any further objections he might make. "Shut UP, Mushu!" She added under her breath, just to further her point.  
  
"Pardon?" Yin said.  
  
"Uh, I call him dragon," Mulan replied, panicked. "He-he was in my saddlebag and he-" she shrugged lamely- "ate my soap."  
  
To her immense relief Yin laughed, but then, "Can I see him?"  
  
"Uhh. . ."  
  
Mushu was shaking his head violently from under her hand and it would seem that he was trying to say something too because every once in a while a bubble would slip out from between her fingers.  
  
"Er, maybe later," Mulan replied quickly, stuffing him firmly back into the saddlebag. "He's not very happy right now."  
  
Yin shrugged, "OK. . . You really are one of a kind, you know."  
  
"Huh?" She turned to face him curiously.  
  
"I can't BELIEVE you have a pet lizard!" he replied gleefully, grinning from ear to ear. "I bet we could really scare Chi Fu with that thing!" 


	6. reunited

6.  
  
Overall they decided that maybe then wouldn't have been the best time to play a practical joke on Chi Fu, though the very idea gave them a good laugh anyway. Plus it was something to talk about, which had almost the same affect that a practical joke might have had on Chi Fu when he returned. He was more than displeased to find the woman he had taken as one of his enemies acting so chummy with the boy he had been beginning to consider his young charge.  
  
Much to the pleasure of Mulan and Yin who talked cheerfully for the larger part of the rest of the ride Chi Fu sat looking furious and fuming silently.  
  
  
  
With the talking the time seemed to pass a lot faster, for Mulan and Yin anyway. Next thing they knew they had not only spotted little white tents in the distance, but were pulling up to the first ones.  
  
Heads peered out tent flaps to survey the new arrivals and as they did jaws dropped. However if Mulan noticed this she made a point of ignoring it.  
  
"MULAN?!" A few familiar voices exclaimed.  
  
In one quick, graceful movement Mulan was off her horse and almost immediately swept into a group hug of sorts.  
  
"Nice to see you too," she laughed as Chien Po set them down and Ling and Yao released her. "How long has it been?"  
  
"Too long," Ling grinned.  
  
"I'll second that," Yao agreed.  
  
"I see you've met my brother," Chien Po said, sending a smile up to Yin and, with amusement, drawing attention to the fact that Chi Fu had already departed.  
  
"Oh yeah!" Mulan exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "Yin, do you know Yao and Ling?"  
  
Yin shook his head.  
  
"Well, Yin. . . Yao, Ling. Ling, Yao. . . Yin." She said cheerfully, gesturing at everybody as she said their name. "I take it you know, Chien Po."  
  
Yin grinned, getting off his horse as well. "No, no I don't believe we've met," he said holding out his hand.  
  
"Nice to meet you." Chien Po laughed, a deep rumbling noise, and shook his hand, pulling on it to bring his brother into a quick hug.  
  
"So," Yao turned to Mulan, "whatcha goin' by today? Ping? Mulan? Maybe Captain?"  
  
"Can't be Mulan," Ling replied, "She's not wearing a dress."  
  
"I just knew that I could never compete against the beautiful image of you two gorgeous concubines." Mulan retorted. "Besides, Ping, Mulan," she weighed the two names, "it really doesn't make a difference, they can both take you."  
  
"Oh yeah?" Ling demanded, both he and Yao drawing themselves up to their full height, (despite the fact that Mulan still pretty much towered over Yao, but then again so did most people).  
  
She made a face at them, "Yeah."  
  
"Be calm," Chien Po said peacefully. "Save your energies for training and the enemy."  
  
Yao, Ling and Mulan exchanged quick glances.  
  
"Ah," Yao threw his arms up in exasperation, "you still aren't worth my time chicken-boy."  
  
"Whatever makes you feel better, limp-noodle," Mulan replied, the memory of the fight that had ensued the last time those names had been used still fresh in her mind.  
  
Yin looked confused, but he shrugged it off quickly. "Alright," he said, changing the subject. "Where are the stables? I'll take your horse, Mulan, you better go check in with the other Captain before Chi Fu finds grounds to get you thrown out for insubordination."  
  
"Insubordination," Ling scoffed, "Chi Fu probably doesn't even know what that MEANS."  
  
Yao cocked a skeptical eyebrow at him. "And YOU do?"  
  
Mulan rolled her eyes and turned to Kahn with a strict look. Butting her forehead gently against his she looked him directly in the eye. "No biting!" She ordered sternly.  
  
As she withdrew Chien Po took his reins instead of Yin and began to lead the way to the stables, followed closely by Yin and then Ling and Yao, all talking emphatically.  
  
Shaking her head Mulan turned and made her way through the various tents, aiming for one larger, more prominent one at the center.  
  
Silently approaching it she drew back the flap to peer in, hoping against hope that Chi Fu wouldn't be there, waiting to ream her out. Luckily he wasn't. All she could see of the occupant of the tent was his broad back bent over a desk, examining something.  
  
Taking one step into the tent she crossed her arms, letting the flap fall back into place. "Captain Li Shang I presume." 


	7. welcome to camp

"Mulan?" Shang was on his feet and facing her before Mulan had even realized he'd heard her.  
  
Mulan grinned, "Who else were you expecting? Ping?"  
  
"Or Captain Fa, I wasn't sure," Shang laughed. He looked torn between whether or not to hug her. On the one hand it was hardly proper, but on the other they were good friends and it wasn't as though Mulan weren't always hugging Yao, Ling or Chien Po. In the end he just settled on a friendly handshake. "Welcome to camp."  
  
It wasn't long before Shang was down to business; after all they were, presumably, on the brink of another war. First of all he explained to her what she would be doing at the camp. He would have a class, the same as the last time they had gone through this, but it would only be of half the men. Mulan would be in charge of the other half. Second he described to her the classified situation. A single scout, badly injured, had returned from an assignment as a messenger. The injured scout, and three other men he had been on assignment with, discovered, or rather were discovered by, the Hun army. He was so badly injured, though, that all they got from him before he died was that the Hun army had been recuperating their strength with the men they had left, those that survived and men from a small alliance they had made. Anything else was guesswork. The location of the Hun army was still unknown and so were their intentions.  
  
Mulan sighed heavily. "And they - nobody - knows anything else? At all?"  
  
"Nothing except that it happened a month ago and nothing else has happened as of yet," he replied. "The Emperor doesn't want this to become public officially until he's sure what's going on."  
  
"So, what happens after we've trained all these men?" she asked.  
  
"We have to wait until that time comes," he replied. "Men are still out there scouting so all we can do is prepare for whatever they might come back with."  
  
They continued to bat the subject around for a while longer before changing it completely, back to the training that Mulan would both go through and instruct. Eventually they were just talking like old friends about 'back home,' their families and any other news they could come up with, instead of officers preparing for war.  
  
"Here, I better show you around before it gets dark," Shang offered.  
  
"Right," Mulan agreed, getting to her feet. "Thanks." 


	8. the morning? as in EARLY!

As she walked Mulan couldn't help noticing all the different glances she was receiving. It was hard not to notice the shots of skepticism mixed with curiosity and, at times, a bit of anger, that were being fired in her direction. However she pointed ignored them, not allowing them to unnerve her.  
  
The camp looked almost identical to the way she remembered it, except for the position of her tent. Instead of being on the outskirts Mulan was a person of status, so she would be positioned much closer to the center of the camp. At least she would have to worry a little less about being late, but only a LITTLE less.  
  
"Fond memories, eh?" Mushu popped out of the collar of her shirt.  
  
Anybody else might have jumped in surprise, but Mulan found herself getting used to the sudden appearances of the little dragon. "What's you're definition of fond?" she retorted quietly so that Shang wouldn't hear.  
  
"Aw, c'mon, it wasn't all bad," Mushu replied. ". . .But, you know, speaking of those few bad instances, I'm warning you right now, bighting anymore butts is out of the question! If you want to go doing anymore of THAT you're on your own."  
  
Mulan couldn't help herself and burst out laughing, inadvertently attracting Shang's attention.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Uh, nothing," she replied quickly, Mushu having long since disappeared. "I . . . was just remembering the last time I was here."  
  
Shang raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What?" She demanded innocently.  
  
He just shook his head and changed the subject, he knew better than to pursue a subject that wasn't going to get answered, especially with Mulan. "Are you ready to address the soldiers tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah," Mulan replied, trying to sound confident despite the worries in the back of her mind.  
  
"Helpful hint: set an example and don't sleep in!" Shang teased; Mulan had always been the last to rise in the camp.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Point taken."  
  
"Oh, and," Shang was suddenly serious and sounded slightly nervous. "You do remember the stuff you're going to be teaching. . . Don't you?"  
  
"Yes!" Mulan exclaimed, tempted to take resentment, but then changed her mind when she remembered the tiny note of nervousness that had been in his voice. "You're still just soar because I can beat you in hand to hand combat."  
  
"What? When?" He asked incredulously. "Are you crazy?"  
  
She shrugged, "That's what people tell me. Anyway, while we're on the topic, do YOU remember the stuff YOU'RE going to be teaching? Just thought I'd better check, can't have any misguided soldiers."  
  
"OK," he said after a pause, "I deserve that."  
  
"Damn right he does," a muffled voice sounded in the back of her collar.  
  
Mulan smirked. "Hey, I'll still be doing training in the mornings - "  
  
She received an extremely skeptical look form Shang.  
  
"OK, so maybe tomorrow mourning and then in the evenings," she corrected herself. "You can join me if you like. Besides, I could do with some extra training on how to be a Captain."  
  
"Tomorrow MORNING?" Shang continued to look doubtful. "EARLY?"  
  
"Yes," she retorted. "Will you be there?"  
  
"I - uh, I mean, yeah. Of course," he smiled down at her. "Wouldn't miss it."  
  
"Great." She smiled back at him and, for a brief moment, their eyes met. Almost immediately both looked away sheepishly, feeling the fool.  
  
Shang cleared his throat. "Are you hungry?"  
  
"Starved," she replied gratefully.  
  
"Did I hear someone mention food?" A hopeful Chien Po stuck his head out of a tent near by, followed quickly by Yao and Ling.  
  
"C'mon, lets go," Yao said, leading the way out of the tent in response to Mulan's affirmative grin. "I could eat a horse!"  
  
"Yeah, where is Kahn when you need him?" Mushu wondered aloud, receiving a playful, but not un-painful, whack from Mulan. 


	9. without the advantage of

*: Thank you, thank you for your fantastic reviews! I'm so sorry I haven't written this in forever but I've been busy and in truth I hadn't really thought about it. Please continue to review with comments or ideas if you like it or if you hate it, I really appreciate it, plus it stimulates me to keep writing. :D  
  
P.S. I gave Mushu a bit of a sick mind, not bad in my mind, but sorry if you take offence or anything, he's just joking' around to distract her.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
It was early, FAR too early in a certain young soldiers eyes. Not for the first time she wondered where this bright idea of hers had come from. The sun hadn't even braved the horizon yet, it was just giving off a dim light from below it, casting a dreamy shimmer across the early morning fog and the dewdrops. The training yard in which she waited, stifling a yawn, was deserted except for herself.  
  
Stretching out her stiff limbs she prepared to work. The early morning combined with the layers of sleep that still hung over her left Mulan paying little attention to her surroundings and focusing mainly on her stretching. . . that, and not falling over and falling asleep then and there.  
  
"Mulan."  
  
She jumped in surprise, jolting herself out of the stretch she had been using and spinning swiftly to meet the intruder in a fighting stance. Mentally she chastised herself for not using her senses, she should have known someone was approaching long before they got the drop on her.  
  
Shang looked amused and, much to her annoyance, as if he were suppressing a chuckle. "Good morning," he said calmly, emerging completely from the shadows he'd slunk up to her in.  
  
"That's an oxymoron," she replied, easing her body into a normal stance.  
  
He raised an eyebrow but said nothing in response to that one; in truth she still caught him off guard every now and then. Instead he simply began his own stretches.  
  
Mulan leaned her back against a tree, waiting for him to limber up.  
  
"You better stretch," Shang told her lightly, in his Captains voice that she had become far too accustomed to during her original training. "Otherwise you'll pull something."  
  
"I've already stretched," she replied. "That's what happens when you get here on time."  
  
Shang shot a surprised look up at her before catching himself. If he was going to waist time sneaking up on her then he was going to pay the price.  
  
Mulan didn't bother to make much of an effort in hiding her amusement; they were on even grounds again.  
  
"Ready?" she asked as he straightened out after completing his stretching.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Back in her tent she had just under half an hour before she would address the troops.  
  
It had been a good training session that morning; she'd forgotten how good it was to work with people. Plus she felt more prepared and confident to face the troops for the first time, although nothing could remove that nervous, sick feeling that was still stowed in the pit of her stomach.  
  
"I still remember the first impression that Shang made on m - us."  
  
"I'm not surprised," Mushu muttered to Crikee.  
  
"I just hope that I can make half that on those soldiers."  
  
"You'll be FINE," Mushu replied confidently, slipping up her arm to rest on her shoulder. "I mean, you wont have the advantage to takin' off your shirt - "  
  
"Mushu!"  
  
"Although that would certainly make an impression, although not the one I think you're goin' for."  
  
Mulan burst out laughing, shoving Mushu off her shoulder. "You are SO not helping."  
  
"Hey," Mushu replied from the pillow he'd landed comfortably on, "I'm just breakin' the tension, here."  
  
"Uh-huh," she replied sarcastically.  
  
"Fine, we'll discuss something different," Mushu replied mischievously. "Li-iii-ke," he drew the one little word out to its fullest extent, "maybe that private training session of yours that I wasn't invited to."  
  
"You were asleep."  
  
"Yeah, sure," Mushu replied distractedly. "Meanwhile who took off- "  
  
Mulan clamped a hand firmly around Mushu's mouth. "I don't even want to know what you were going to say."  
  
"I'm just SAYING," Mushu managed to free himself. "You and Shang, alone, working up a sweat."  
  
The hand came down again, clamping more firmly over the struggling dragon's mouth. "You have a sick mind," she informed him, not allowing even the slightest chance for escape this time.  
  
Mushu squirmed, trying to speak again but all that came out was muffled against her hand.  
  
"No," Mulan replied firmly, not releasing him. "I'm warning you one more thing and I'm going to be forced to hand feed you that soap of mine that you already tried to eat."  
  
The dragon stiffened.  
  
Slowly Mulan drew her hand away far enough for him to speak.  
  
"You wouldn't dare."  
  
"Try me."  
  
Mushu considered this for a moment, reflecting on the terrible taste and the bubbles that he'd been left with and, apparently, decided that it wasn't worth it.  
  
"Hey, well I don't see you worrying about addressing the troops!"  
  
Mulan winced, that was also true. "Well I was focusing on the two things at once," she lied. "It's called multitasking."  
  
Her hand shot out to clamp down over Mushu's mouth again before the look on his face could be translated into words.  
  
"Eeeeew!" Mulan exclaimed, drawing her hand away. "Did you just lick me?!" 


	10. retrieve the arrow

*: OK, the odds are that you're gonna completely know the first little scene and there's another that you're going to recognize later on. Don't come looking for blood cause of copyright infringement, I know I don't own Disney's Mulan, any of the characters, save the ones I add in, or any of the movie's scenes, but these ones needed to be used.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Now changed to more formal clothes than what she'd been wearing for her early morning training session Mulan stood just behind and to the right of Shang, facing the troops assembled before them. Shang was just finishing addressing all of them, explaining that they would 'assemble swiftly and silently every morning' and that anyone who might act otherwise would answer to him or to Captain Fa.  
  
"Oooh," she heard in the background, "Captain Fa. I'm shaking."  
  
Shangs eyes slanted back at her, the look barely noticeable to the troops but a plain invite clear to Mulan.  
  
A small smile crossed her lips as she stepped forward, drawing her arrow and fitting it swiftly into her bow. "Lang," she said gruffly.  
  
All the men save one retreated back a step leaving Lang targeted perfectly by her arrow. Spinning abruptly she fired up into the air, planting her arrow at the top of the, all too familiar, poll.  
  
"Thank you for volunteering. Retrieve the arrow."  
  
Whatever it was that Lang muttered Mulan ignored him as he stepped cockily toward the poll. Just as he grasped hold of it Mulan stopped him with: "Just a moment, you seem to be missing something. This," she withdrew one of the bronze disks from the box Chi Fu presented her, albeit grudgingly, with, "represents strength, and this," she withdrew the other one, "represents dignity." Attaching them both to the arms of Lang she said, "You need both to reach the arrow."  
  
Stepping back she gave Lang room to tackle the poll.  
  
"Well that was familiar," Mushu muttered from just within her collar. "Never thought you'd be doing that, eh Mulan?"  
  
Lang fell, crumpled under the weight to the ground.  
  
"All part of the plan," she replied in a hiss. She and Shang had gone over this earlier that morning, luckily. She had been expecting a wise-ass remark from someone.  
  
Man after man tried, the more experienced getting closer perhaps, but nonetheless man after man failed. Finally, after everyone had failed Shang stepped back into place, nodding at Chi Fu.  
  
"The following soldiers will come with me," he said, and Chi Fu began to read.  
  
Mulan noted that a fair amount of the more experienced soldiers were going with Shang, which was both good and bad for her, but in the long run the more experienced Captain taking the more experienced soldiers made more sense. With what Mulan was almost positive was EXACTLY half of the soldiers Shang departed, leaving her with the rest and Chi Fu. 'Lucky me,' she thought sarcastically at the malicious look he sent her.  
  
He cocked an eyebrow and made a note on his irritating little clipboard, "Day one."  
  
"Soldiers!" She called loudly over them, attempting to quiet down the chatter that was begging to grow, silence gradually fell. "Lets get to work." Tossing out the staffs she continued to ignore all of the looks and annoyed eyebrows she was being sent and lead them out onto the practice field they would be using.  
  
Barely an hour into their training was something went wrong. It was sudden and Mulan hadn't even seen it coming, but abruptly no one was paying attention to their work, or to her. The soldiers were gathered in a tight mass encircling something.  
  
Cursing sharply Mulan rushed forward, elbowing her way through the pushy men, some of which stepped back, others who seemed to be deliberately getting in her way. She didn't care; she wasn't exactly being gentle at the moment.  
  
Reaching the center of the circle she dragged the brawling men apart angrily. "What is going on here?" she demanded.  
  
"It's his fault," one of the men snarled pointing at the other, slightly weaker looking one, still sitting on the ground.  
  
"Yeah, he started the whole thing," another echoed.  
  
Mulan glanced from soldier to soldier, guessing at the situation. She had different advantages to Shang, she realized, she'd been there, she knew what they were up to.  
  
"I didn't ask whose fault it was I ASKED what was going on here," she growled. Surprised the accusing man took a step backwards. "You," she turned to the boy who had been on the ground, now standing and dusting himself off. "What's your name."  
  
"Uh," the boy looked surprised as he met Mulans steady gave. "M-my what?"  
  
The crowd still hadn't dispersed enough to allow Chi Fu through, thankfully.  
  
"Your name," she replied, cocking an eyebrow, "what is it?"  
  
"Umm," his voice was suddenly much deeper. "My name is - uhm - "  
  
"Well?"  
  
"I-I've got a name. . ." He paused desperately. Muttered almost under his breath he said, "HIS name is Lang,"  
  
"I didn't ask for his name I asked for yours," Mulan replied, exasperated. Was this boy just being difficult? Somehow this situation seemed familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on it and she didn't have time to try.  
  
"Uh-hum, m-my name is. . .Uh. . . Chon!"  
  
"Chon." Mulan repeated.  
  
"Yeah - YES," he corrected himself quickly. "My name is Chon."  
  
Mulan nodded curtly and spun to face the other two soldiers who had accused him. "Well, Chon, Lang," she pointed to the final soldier expectantly, there had to be an easier way to get their names when they weren't in formation.  
  
"Ping," he said.  
  
She nearly chocked. "And Ping. The three of you have some running to do. The river and back until I say stop, and THEN you have kitchen duty for the next week."  
  
The three of them winced visibly. Mulan did her best not to wince along with them, she felt their pain, she'd been there, done that. However, she was going to have enough problems without people starting to make rumors that she was soft. She had already made up her mind that if the soldiers asked for trouble, trouble they were going to get, and she wasn't going to back down from that now.  
  
Her voice rose so that all the men could here her clearly. "Disobedience and fighting will not be tolerated, gentlemen. You're here to learn to fight properly and if you fall out of line you can only expect to be punished. Well?" She turned back to her three examples, "What are you waiting for?"  
  
They took off towards the river at a sprint.  
  
"Conserve your energy," she called the friendly warning after them before she could stop herself. Shaking it off she turned back to the other men. "Let's get back to work."  
  
She shuddered as she walked calmly back to her place in front of them, "I feel like Chi Fu," she muttered to Mushu.  
  
"Aw, it had to be done," Mushu comforted. "What? You want these bozos walkin' all over you for the rest `a your time here? Now lets go, back to work!" 


	11. i think i handled that well you're welc...

Mulan moved quickly through the mess room, avoiding the looks some soldiers shot at her. At that point she didn't care, it had been a long day and something still plagued her mind. Irritating as it was she couldn't quite put her finger on it.  
  
First Lang and then Cho dished food onto her plate. She'd nearly forgotten she'd placed them on kitchen duty, nearly.  
  
"Thanks," she said, before turning to find a table.  
  
Yin caught her attention, waving her over to the table he sat at and making room for her next to him. Ling and Yao were already there, but Chien Po was still retrieving his dinner, not to mention tricking his way into getting more than his fair rations.  
  
"Hi," she slumped into the offered seat, finally off her weary legs.  
  
"Long day?" Yin asked.  
  
"I survived," she replied, "but I am STARVING!"  
  
"Join the club," Ling replied, mouth full.  
  
"Yeah," Yao agreed. "Pass the salt."  
  
Ling sent it down the table.  
  
"So, Captain Fa, already got a few greenies on kitchen duty, eh?" Yao asked.  
  
Mulan shrugged, "It's not the worse punishment that's going to be given out by the time we're done here."  
  
"You're tellin' me," Yao replied.  
  
He and Ling chorused together in an imitation of Shang's voice "you'll spend tonight picking up every single grain of rice."  
  
Mulan laughed, "Ugh, don't remind me! I - " She cut herself short as Shang appeared behind her two friends. "Captain," she said quickly, cutting off any more remarks that might have gotten Yao or Ling in trouble. "Sit down."  
  
She had a feeling Shang knew exactly what had been said because she could see him trying to disguise his amusement as he sat. "Captain Fa, Yin Po," he said, apparently there was still business that needed to be dealt with. "I'd like to meet with you both after dinner."  
  
Mulan and Yin exchanged a quick glance. "Yes sir," they chimed.  
  
"Mulan, you're the same rank as me," Shang hissed in an undertone, a cheerful, teasing glimmer noticeable in the corner of his eyes he met hers.  
  
She looked startled for a moment, tearing her eyes hastily away from his. "Oh -yeah," she laughed a little. "I have to start remembering that."  
  
"Eh," Ling chuckled, "You're just tired, first day of training and all."  
  
"Ha! I think you can account that to unruly soldiers," Mulan retorted, "if anything."  
  
"Unruly soldiers?" Shang raised his eyebrows at her.  
  
"They've been dealt with," Mulan replied, gesturing back at the kitchen with her head.  
  
"Chien Po!" Yao exclaimed, "Finally! You think you got enough food there?"  
  
Mulan shifted over making room for him in between herself and Yin. He sat down cheerfully, placing his heavily laden food tray before him carefully.  
  
"You gonna eat that or climb it?" Ling asked, eyeing all of Chien Po's food.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Mulan was still laughing at something Ling had done as they exited the tent. She waved to her friends as they drifted off towards their tents.  
  
She was about to start heading for her own when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.  
  
"Yin Po, Captain Fa," Shang said formally, gesturing towards a different tent.  
  
"Oh yeah," she murmured under her breath, following them behind the flap.  
  
"You really are tired," Mushu laughed at her.  
  
"Sh," she hissed.  
  
"What?" Shang asked.  
  
"Uh," she gave him her best innocent look, "Nothing. . . ?" She made a mental note that she and Mushu really had to work something out. If people kept catching her talking to herself they really were going to start thinking she was a lunatic, female soldier or not.  
  
"First things first," Shang sat down, "Yin, I have spoken to Chi Fu and -"  
  
Chi Fu swished promptly though the doors.  
  
'Speak of the devil,' Mulan thought.  
  
"Captain! You did not intend to hold this meeting without me?" he was aghast. "I will have you know that I am your superior and as such I am entitled to - "  
  
As Chi Fu lectured on Mulan watched Shang's face with amusement. Chi Fu was, in fact, all of their superiors, so there wasn't much any of them could do to cut him short, at least not without getting into some sort of trouble. Shang looked somewhere in between the honorable Captain he strived to be and the, currently irritated and resentful, young adult that balanced him out.  
  
Finally Chi Fu had finished and was waiting impatiently for his apology.  
  
Through clenched teeth and with narrowed eyes Shang managed to say, "I apologize, Chi Fu, it won't happen again."  
  
"Indeed," he replied dryly, looking down his nose at everyone else. "Well, get on with it, you've wasted enough time already."  
  
"I'VE wasted - " Shang caught himself and turned abruptly back to Yin. "Yin Po, - "  
  
"While your presence here and in the assistance of retrieving Captain Fa has been appreciated," Chi Fu cut across him, "Through my DIRECT correspondence with the Emperor it has been decided that it is time for you to return to your station among the Emperors guards as soon as possible."  
  
Yin nodded obediently, although his glance wandered briefly between Chi Fu and the two Captains. "I'll move out in the morning."  
  
"Very good," Chi Fu replied, bestowing a creepy turn of the lips that might have been a smile upon him, as though for a favorite pupil that seemed to be slipping gradually from his grasp. His face fell slightly, back to normal anyway, as the smile wasn't returned, "You're dismissed," he held the tent door open for him.  
  
Yin bowed before turning and leaving through the exit Chi Fu had created for him.  
  
"Well," Chi Fu said darkly as soon as Yin was out of earshot. "I think I handled that well. You're welcome Captain," he said pompously before whirling on his toes and exiting the tent with his nose as high in the air as it could get without sending him toppling over backwards.  
  
"Uh, was that what you wanted me for?" Mulan asked after a quiet pause.  
  
"What? Oh. No, sorry," Shang replied, "That's not it."  
  
"OK," Mulan sat down across from him, not quite sure what to say, or what was coming next. "What's up?" 


	12. you're a hero, i mean you're THE hero, B...

He glanced once more at the sheet before him that Mulan had previously overlooked before handing it across to her.  
  
"Another messenger?" she asked.  
  
"No," Shang said, almost totally without emotion, "They've reached our northern boarder."  
  
Mulan looked up sharply from the sheet of paper. "The Great Wall," she breathed. "How much time does that give us?"  
  
"A month, tops," Shang replied. "The Imperial guards and troops are already being dispensed from the palace to protect the Emperors people."  
  
The implication of history repeating itself for those troops was a prospect that didn't need to be voiced, it already lay heavily before Shang, it always did.  
  
"Shang," Mulan reached out a comforting hand.  
  
He shook off the memories abruptly. "More conscription notices are being delivered, in two weeks the numbers here could double so two Lieutenants will be sent to help train the troops."  
  
"OK," Mulan nodded slowly, trying to process it all. After a pause she said patiently, "Anything else?"  
  
"Uhm, well," Shang suddenly looked incredibly uncomfortable.  
  
Her brows knitted slightly, "What?"  
  
"Mulan, you're a hero, I mean THE hero of China, people honor you and respect you but, uh. . .well, there are other people that - "  
  
"Yeah," Mulan cut him off, studying the floor as if it were particularly interesting, "I know."  
  
"Meanwhile - while I trust your combat skills completely -" he added quickly. "You're, uh, the only woman in a camp full of men and, well. . . I mean - "  
  
Mulan sighed, "That I have to be prepared for gossip? Look, Shang, I know that too, I -"  
  
"No, well, I mean that too," Shang cut HER off now. "But I mean that, well, you have to be careful. Uh. . . I mean - "  
  
"Don't. I mean, I get it," she replied, looking up at him sharply, feeling a bit of unbidden pink rising in her cheeks. She hadn't really been expecting that, she hadn't even really thought much about that. Somewhere in the back of her mind that pesky little voice said that it was nice to know that he cared but she shoved that away as quickly as she could. He was her comrade, her friend, her fellow Captain. It was his duty to warn her or, whatever it was that he was doing, it meant nothing. "I'm fine, Shang. Seriously."  
  
He cocked an eyebrow at her, although he still looked sort of uncomfortable.  
  
As a matter of fact Mulan wasn't feeling too comfortable herself, but Shang obviously wasn't going to be the one to change the subject. "So. . . Any news on who these two Lieutenants might be?"  
  
"Not much, although I do know that Yin Po is being considered," Shang replied, thankful to be on familiar ground again.  
  
"Yin?" Mulan asked, almost laughing. "Poor Yin, he's going to get to the Emperors palace and get told to turn around and come straight back here."  
  
Shang chuckled and their conversation drifted comfortably back into more normal, safer grounds.  
  
Before she left him that night she remembered the training she would be doing in the evening at the last second and reminded him of it as well. "You know, if you still want to come. . . ?"  
  
"What, not working in the mornings anymore?" Shangs eyebrow arched teasingly.  
  
"Yeah, right," she scoffed. "Have you got any idea just how EARLY that is? I mean, I was there before you today!"  
  
Shang laughed, "Uh, yeah, sorry about that."  
  
Mulan shrugged, dismissing it completely, "I should have been paying attention."  
  
"Training tomorrow evening?" Shang asked as Mulan made her way towards the tent flap.  
  
"Yeah," she smiled at him, lifting it up and stepping halfway out of the tent. "Tomorrow EVENING." 


End file.
